Christopher Lott <cml@cs.umd.edu> (04/13/91)
The following was posted to comp.risks; I've abbreviated the post slightly: From: woody@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Bill Woodcock) Subject: Re: Tricky application of Caller ID (Davis, RISKS-11.42) >> imagine, say, 10,000 kids in the audience [ hold phones up to TV speaker, >> which plays DTMF ]. You've got 10,000 phones dialing the same number >> simultaneously. How many of those calls do you think will get through? > In answer to your question, all 10,000 of them will get through. Sprint has a > service called "Mass Event 900/800" for doing exactly this. It can handle, > coincidentally, 10,000 calls simultaneously, and is offered to their larger > 800 and 900 customers. I've heard, but not been able to substantiate, that > AT&T has a similar service. Can anyone explain more about this? How is it done? Does it require hundreds of operators "standing by Right Now!"? Christopher Lott \/ Dept of Comp Sci, Univ of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 cml@cs.umd.edu /\ 4122 AV Williams Bldg 301 405-2721 <standard disclaimers>
Bill Woodcock <woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu> (04/16/91)
Davis, RISKS-11.42 asked: > imagine, say, 10,000 kids in the audience [hold phones up to TV > speaker, which plays DTMF]. You've got 10,000 phones dialing the same > number simultaneously. How many of those calls do you think will get > through? woody@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (That's me!) answered: > In answer to your question, all 10,000 of them will get through. > Sprint has a service called "Mass Event 900/800" for doing exactly > this. It can handle, coincidentally, 10,000 calls simultaneously, and > is offered to their larger 800 and 900 customers. I've heard, but not > been able to substantiate, that AT&T has a similar service. cml@cs.umd.edu (Christopher Lott) further asks: > Can anyone explain more about this? How is it done? Does it require > hundreds of operators "standing by Right Now!"? As other people asked me after that posting (which I admit should have been made more explicit) the service works only with prerecorded or prerecorded/DTMF interactive messages. The main use for this, as has been implied, is to pick up an instant mailing list relatively inexpensively (800) or at a profit (900). In addition, since it requires some work on the part of the potential consumer, it's a lits that's probably going to be pretty well targeted, and responsive, as direct-mail things go. My only objection to this is the targeting of children, as was originally described by Gary Marx in the statement that started this thread. bill.woodcock.iv woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu 355.virginia.st berkeley.california 94709.1315